Page 55 of Their Wicked Ways

I lifted my eyes. His were filled with sincerity and trust, the same way he always looked at me.

“But we need to be very careful with how we proceed,” he said. “Not just because we all work together, but because I don’t want any of us to get hurt. This is going to be messy, no matter what we do.”

“Yeah.” I nodded slowly, my mind spinning off in a completely different direction. “I think we need to make a new set of rules.”

“I think so too. The first is no playing with others until we get this settled. Even if nothing comes of it.”

“I agree,” I said quickly. I hadn’t even considered the possibility since that first night with Jett.

“Another is that we need to be honest with each other about everything from now on. No matter what we feel or think. No hiding from each other.”

“Deal.” I squeezed his hand. “And I think we need to start slow. Get to know him better and spend time outside of work and the bedroom.”

“I agree.” He smiled. “And I’m going to add that we can do that together or separately. We’re a couple, but we’re still individual people. We need to look at this situation from all angles.”

“Yeah.” I paused. “What about being physical together? Is that something we’ll only do when all three of us are together?”

“I’m fine with you and him exploring things on your own. Obviously I’d love to watch.” He waggled his eyebrows, breaking the seriousness of the moment. “But all I ask is that you tell me about it after. Share as much or as little as you want, just don’t hide it from me.”

“Same for you.” I paused. “I think that’s it for me.”

“Me too, and I think it’s best we take things as they go. Trying to plan things or predict them will only drive us crazy. I never thought we’d be in a place where we’d ever consider bringing someone into our relationship, so we need to be mindful of that and remember that we’re navigating something new and confusing.”

“Agreed.” I knew that was his way of saying not to overthink everything and get stuck in my head again. “I’ll do my best.”

“That’s all I ask.” He grimaced. “And we need to be more open with Jesse. We really hurt him. No more shutting him out either.”

I nodded. “Yeah. I feel like shit for dodging him these past few months.”

Ez had told me he’d spoken to Jesse and he knew the truth about us now. I was glad everything was out in the open, but it would be a while before the guilt of lying to him for so long faded.

“Come on. Let’s clean up our dishes and put on a movie. I think we need some couch time after this.”

“Hell to the yeah.” I smiled, the weight that had been dragging me down finally lifting.

Ez still loved me, and he was just as confused as I was about everything.

We’d figure this out together, the same as we always did.

11

JETT

“What’sthe name of that tattoo shop you go to again?” I asked Zane.

“After Dark Studios.” He tossed his bag into the back of Noah’s truck.

I typed the name into Google.

“You getting some ink?” Ezra asked from where he was leaning against the side of his and Wes’s truck.

We’d finished packing up the site for the week and were all clustered around our cars before heading home.

“Not sure I’m ever going to get there.” I clicked on the shop’s website. “But my intrusive thoughts have convinced me to get a nose ring.”

Wes chuckled. “Is that how intrusive thoughts work?”

I shot him a smirk-smile. “No clue, but that’s my excuse for sticking holes in my body after years of being brainwashed to believe that our bodies are temples and tattoos or piercings will turn me into some sort of degenerate.”